The present invention generally relates to prevention of microorganism invasion and disinfection at an exit site of, for example, a catheter placed into a cavity of a body of an individual. More specifically, the present invention relates to a metallic silver-plated silicon ring element for disinfection of an exit site and prevention of microorganism invasion into cuffs of a catheter and a tunnel formed by the catheter using oligodynamic effect of the silver ion of the ring element.
It is, of course, generally known to maintain sterile conditions when articles, such as a catheter, are inserted into a cavity of the body. One such procedure requiring insertion of a catheter into the body creating an entry/exit site is peritoneal dialysis. At the point of insertion, an entry/exit site is created for the catheter or other like tubular device to permit injection or withdrawal of fluid into the cavity or to establish patency of the passageway.
Many techniques are known to maintain the sterility or cleanliness of the entry/exit site. One such technique requires daily care of the site by a disinfectant such as PVI, chlorhexidine, or the like. The procedure, however, only provides immediate disinfection. It is difficult to maintain a clean environment at all times by only using a disinfectant.
Another known procedure is to cover the site by a plastic bag or an adhesive material capping. However, many allergic problems result from using adhesive material. Further, no disinfection of the site results from use of the plastic bag or adhesive material capping. Using a disinfectant such as PVI, however, often causes skin irritation since PVI is caustic and can result in inflammation at the site.
Another known technique involves using a silver coated catheter. Such a catheter may be chronic and a silver ion used as the coating with the catheter may react with sulphur-containing substances or iodine-containing substances. Therefore, less leaching of the silver ions from the silver layer results. Peritonitis is increasingly occurrent at the site created through the use of catheters. Infections caused through peritonitis are both difficult and slow to heal. Therefore, catheter re-implantation into the body is often required. Often, a patient ends continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) therapy due to the complications caused by peritonitis and other like infections.
A need, therefore, exists for an improved apparatus and a method for eliminating infections due to implantation of a catheter and the like.